1. Technical Field
The present application relates to a beverage bottling plant, in which beverage bottles are filled, closed, packed, and transported on dollies and pallets, an arrangement for transporting dollies, and a method therefor.
2. Background Information
Background information is for informational purposes only and does not necessarily admit that subsequently mentioned information and publications are prior art.
A beverage bottling plant for filling bottles with a liquid beverage filling material can possibly comprise a beverage filling machine, which is often a rotary filling machine, with a plurality of beverage filling positions, each beverage filling position having a beverage filling device for filling bottles with liquid beverage filling material. The filling devices may have an apparatus designed to introduce a predetermined volume of liquid beverage filling material into the interior of bottles to a substantially predetermined level of liquid beverage filling material.
Some beverage bottling plants may possibly comprise filling arrangements that receive a liquid beverage material from a toroidal or annular vessel, in which a supply of liquid beverage material is stored under pressure by a gas. The toroidal vessel may also be connected to at least one external reservoir or supply of liquid beverage material by a conduit or supply line. In some circumstances it may even be possible that a beverage bottling plant has two external supply reservoirs, each of which may be configured to store either the same liquid beverage product or different products. These reservoirs could possibly be connected to the toroidal or annular vessel by corresponding supply lines, conduits, or other arrangements. It is also possible that the external supply reservoirs could be in the form of simple storage tanks, or in the form of liquid beverage product mixers.
A wide variety of types of filling elements are used in filling machines in beverage bottling or container filling plants for dispensing a liquid product into bottles, cans or similar containers, including but not limited to filling processes that are carried out under counterpressure for the bottling of carbonated beverages. The apparatus designed to introduce a predetermined flow of liquid beverage filling material further comprises an apparatus that is designed to terminate the filling of the beverage bottles upon the liquid beverage filling material reaching the predetermined level in bottles. There may also be provided a conveyer arrangement that is designed to move bottles, for example, from an inspecting machine to the filling machine.
After a filling process has been completed, the filled beverage bottles are transported or conveyed to a closing machine, which is often a rotary closing machine. A revolving or rotary machine comprises a rotor, which revolves around a central, vertical machine axis. There may further be provided a conveyer arrangement configured to transfer filled bottles from the filling machine to the closing station. A transporting or conveying arrangement can utilize transport star wheels as well as linear conveyors. A closing machine closes bottles by applying a closure, such as a screw-top cap or a bottle cork, to a corresponding bottle mouth. Closed bottles are then usually conveyed to an information adding arrangement, wherein information, such as a product name or a manufacturer's information or logo, is applied to a bottle. A closing station and information adding arrangement may be connected by a corresponding conveyer arrangement. Bottles are then sorted and packaged for shipment out of the plant.
Many beverage bottling plants may also possibly comprise a rinsing arrangement or rinsing station to which new, non-return and/or even return bottles are fed, prior to being filled, by a conveyer arrangement, which can be a linear conveyor or a combination of a linear conveyor and a starwheel. Downstream of the rinsing arrangement or rinsing station, in the direction of travel, rinsed bottles are then transported to the beverage filling machine by a second conveyer arrangement that is formed, for example, by one or more starwheels that introduce bottles into the beverage filling machine.
It is a further possibility that a beverage bottling plant for filling bottles with a liquid beverage filling material can be controlled by a central control arrangement, which could be, for example, a computerized control system that monitors and controls the operation of the various stations and mechanisms of the beverage bottling plant.
Once beverage bottles are filled, closed, and packaged, the packages of filled beverage bottles may be placed on dollies and/or pallets for the transportation of the packages out of the beverage bottling plant.
Rolling transport systems are becoming increasingly important in merchandise handling and product logistics operations. These transport systems are rolling pallets which are also called dollies. These small dollies generally have a base surface which equals one-half or one-quarter of the size of a standard EU pallet, whereby of the four wheels or casters, one pair is conventionally realized in the form of steerable wheels which are mounted so that they can swivel around a vertical axis. The second pair of wheels or casters is not steerable. In reusable systems, the dollies are stacked on a Europallet and returned to the suppliers, where they are loaded with new products by the supplier. The loaded dollies are assembled on transport pallets, which are conventionally Europallets, fixed in position and shipped out to customers again.
In some rolling transport systems, an individually loaded dolly is transported by means of a transport bar which is provided with drivers. The disadvantages of a return system, however, include the fact that the dollies, which are generally stacked, are not oriented in the same direction and that the steerable wheels can be in any random direction. This situation requires and/or desires that the dollies and/or their steerable wheels be correctly oriented before or after the reloading, so that the loaded dollies can then be optimally grouped on a pallet.